This four-CD set has the exact same music as an earlier Mosaic five-LP box, but is highly recommended to those listeners not already possessing the limited-edition set. Trumpeter Clifford Brown is heard on the most significant recordings from the first half of his tragically brief career. Whether co-leading a date with altoist Lou Donaldson, playing as a sideman with trombonist J.J. Johnson, interacting with an all-star group of West Coast players, or jamming with the first (although unofficial) edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (a two-disc live performance with a quintet that also includes the drummer/leader, Donaldson and pianist Horace Silver), Brown is the main star. Highlights are many, including versions of "Brownie Speaks," Elmo Hope's "De-Dah," "Cherokee," "Get Happy," "Daahoud" and "Joy Spring." The attractive packaging, with its 40 pages of text and many rare pictures, is an added bonus.
Disc 1
1 Bellarosa
2 Carvin' the Rock [alternate take]
3 Carvin' the Rock
4 Cookin' [alternate take]
5 Cookin'
6 Brownie Speaks
7 De-Dah
8 You Go to My Head
9 Carvin' the Rock [alternate take #2]
10 Wail Bait [alternate take]
11 Wail Bait
12 Hymn of the Orient
13 Brownie Eyes
14 Cherokee [alternate take]
15 Cherokee
16 Easy Living
17 Minor Mood
18 Hymn of the Orient [alternate take]
Disc 2
1 Capri [alternate take]
2 Capri
3 Lover Man
4 Turnpike
5 Turnpike [alternate take]
6 Sketch One
7 It Could Happen to You
8 Get Happy
9 Get Happy [alternate take]
10 Daahoud
11 Finders Keepers
12 Joy Spring
13 Gone With the Wind
14 Bones for Jones
15 Blueberry Hill
16 Tiny Capers
17 Tiny Capers [alternate take]
Disc 3
1 Split Kick
2 Once in a While
3 Quicksilver
4 Wee Dot [alternate take]
5 Blues
6 A Night in Tunisia
7 Mayreh
Disc 4
1 Wee Dot
2 If I Had You
3 Quicksilver [alternate take]
4 The Way You Look Tonight
5 Lou's Blues
6 Now's the Time
7 Confirmation
